Abstract

This article investigates the effects of female family planning workers on the use of modern contraception in Bangladesh. It finds that a recent visit by a family planning worker increases the odds of a client being a user of modern reversible methods almost eight-fold in rural areas and 2.5 times in urban areas. However, the reverse is the case with sterilization; contact with NGOs is the most important predictor of sterilization. The article, which provides reasons for these phenomena, draws out a number of implications for policy and programme purposes, and provides a set of recommendations to further the countrys on-going fertility decline.